Fluid receptacles of various types are, of course, known in the art. Generally, such receptacles are formed of a single wall of a structural material, such as glass, plastic, paper, cardboard, metal, or wood, such that the receptacle at all times retains its rigid shape. Certain reusable, collapsible-type beverage containers are known, such as telescoping camping-type cups. These are typically formed from metal and include a plurality of meshed truncated conical sections that telescope to form substantially cylindrically configured cup. The known rigidly configured drinking receptacles can require a substantial storage space, thereby increasing the cost to businesses of storing them on premises as well as transporting them to their end use location.
Many of the paper fluid containers presently marketed are capable of being recycled, yet none of them are capable of being taken readily and directly from a collapsed configuration to a fluid-holding configuration. In addition, many such beverage containers known to this inventor are unstable and are not readily usable in a moving vehicle. Many vehicle operators, for example, place a beverage container on the dash of their vehicle while driving. During vehicle maneuvers, such as turns and lane changes, the beverage container may tip over and spill its contents. Sometimes the containers will slide sideways on the dash during such maneuvers. This often results in drivers lunging sideways in an attempt to prevent the sliding container from spilling--a dangerous action when operating a moving vehicle and an action that this inventor believes has more than once caused accidents and serious injuries or deaths.
In addition to the foregoing disadvantages on known mass produced paper or plastic drinking cups, those cups also require a lid when used in a motor vehicle. This is another expense item for the business and the consumer. A problem with such lids is that they do not have, in this inventor's experience, any self-closing or self-sealing properties. Generally, once the opening in made in the lid through which the beverage pours, the opening remains open and cannot be closed or sealed to reduce or eliminate spillage.
Another problem with presently available paper drinking containers is that they provide little or no insulation value, thus allowing the fluid to reach room temperature rather rapidly. In addition, when a hot liquid such as coffee is placed in the cup, the heat is readily transmitted through the walls of the cup, be it manufactured from glass, paper, plastic or any other known material, into the consumer's hand. For example, in many commercial coffee boutiques, the coffee is dispensed at a temperature near the boiling point of water. Consequently, the cup will often become literally too hot to handle. To solve this problem, many such coffee shops are now "double cupping;" that is, providing the coffee in two nested cups so as to create somewhat of an insulating air barrier between the walls of the nested cups. This obviously increases the cost of providing a cup of coffee to the consumer, which is either passed on to the consumer in the form of higher costs for cups taken from the premises or is absorbed by the business.
Finally, the general design of available mass produced drinking cups enhances instability and spillage. Thus, these cups are generally formed to assume a conically tapering structure with a circular top and a circular bottom where the top has a greater radius than the bottom. Thus, such a cup is inherently unstable in that the center of mass tends to be very high in relation to the overall height of the fluid held within the cup. In addition, the conically outwardly tapering walls promotes the sloshing of the beverage or other fluid out of the cup.
It would be desirable to have a paper or plastic fluid receptacle capable of use for holding a fluid such as a motor lubricant or drinking beverage, that was available for storage in a collapsed configuration to minimize storage space and that could be readily reconfigured to a fluid-holding configuration without the aid of tools, glues, or the like. It would furthermore be desirable to have a fluid receptacle that would provide additional stability over known receptacles and still readily assume the collapsed configuration prior to and after use as a fluid receptacle. It would be still further desirable to have a fluid receptacle that would provide insulating value to the consumer, particularly when the receptacle is holding a hot fluid such as coffee. Such a receptacle would enable the consumer to maintain the fluid at the desired temperature for a greater length of time than with similar available containers and that would function to reduce the likelihood of the consumer being burned by a hot fluid.